Thailand ready for Cambodia talks

Saturday, May 07, 2011 - 01:50

May 7 - Thai foreign minister says his country is ready for talks with Cambodia over a border dispute as leaders from southeast Asian nations arrive in Indonesia for the ASEAN summit. Sunita Rappai reports.

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Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya says Thailand is ready for immediate talks with Cambodia over its disputed border.
SOUNDBITE (English) THAI FOREIGN MINISTER KASIT PIROMYA SAYING:
"It can be tomorrow. We are ready to be tomorrow. We have been proposing this for three, four months already and the Cambodian side refuses to come to the negotiating, to the meeting. The problem is not us, I mean the problem is the decision from Phnom Penh.
The two countries, immersed in a long-running dispute over the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, met ahead of the opening ceremony for the Association of South East Asian Nations or ASEAN summit.
Leaders from 10 south east Asian nations arrived at the Jakarta Convention Center in Indonesia on Saturday.
They were greeted by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who stressed the need for cooperation.
SOUNDBITE (Bahasa Indonesia) INDONESIAN PRESIDENT SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO SAYING:
"In ASEAN, we still have to do more work to build the ASEAN community. We have to build small-medium-scale businesses, we have to develop investment in tourism industries among ASEAN countries. And we have to raise co-operation with ASEAN-partner countries. And we have to put more efforts into people-to-people interaction."
Leaders are expected to discuss regional security, the economic community and the possibility of Myanmar hosting ASEAN.
Sunita Rappai, Reuters

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